Railroad-frog



(No Model.)

J. T. RICHARDSON.

RAILROAD FROG.

No. 417,506. Patented Dec. 17, 1889.

gmwzmioz witness 2o NITED STATES FFICE.

PATENT JOHN RICHARDSON, OF HARRISBURG, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALEX-ANDER H. EGE, OF MECHANIOSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,506, dated December1'2, .889. Application filed December 14,1888. sen'alno. 293,587..(NomodnL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN '1. RICHARDSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates,.and a resident of Harrisburg, county of Dauphin, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Frogs, of which the following isa specification.

The object of my invention is to construct a frog that shall combinesimplicity and flexi- IO bility of structure with durability andefficiency in the performance of its required functions'-an end that Iattain .by the use of clamping-bars, distance or filling blocks, sidesupports, Wedges or keys, and bolts, as here- I 5 inafter described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a plan view of my improvedfrog. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 00 00 of Fig. 1, takenlongitudinally through the longest clamp. Fig. 3 is a side view of aportion of the frog. Fig. 4 is a view of the locking parts enlarged orseparated. r A A are the outer curved or wing rails of the frog, and B Bthe inner rails converging to and terminating in the point or tongue Z)of the frog. The rails constituting the frog rest upon clamping-bars O,of which at least two are used in each structure. Said clamping-barsterminate in flanges c a. One terminal flange at least of each clamp isperforated atv a point about equidistant from the angle of the base tothe end of the flange for the reception of a binding-bolt e, as herein-5 after more fully set forth. Plano-convex side supporting-blocks D D DD are interposed between the webs d on the one side and the upturnedflange c of the said clamp O and between the web cl and the clampingwedge or key or keys E E on the other side of the frog. A clamping keyor keys E E, of a general Wedge shape and slotted about centrally ontheir longitudinal inclined faces for a dis-,

tions in the clamp-flanges c c the webs of the win g-rails A are alsoperforated for the recep tion of the binding-bolts e 6; also, in linewith and upon the vertical faces of the fillingblocks g 9, that areinterposed between the outer and inner rails of the frog, depressions orrabbeted seats h h are wrought, and into these seats the nuts 1' 7; restwhen the bindingbolts 6 c are in place, and are prevented thereby fromrevolving either under vibration or normal motion of the bolts. To bindthe co-operating parts of the frog together,

the side supporting-blocks D D D .D are first placed in position uponthe outer sides of the Wing-rails and in close lateral contact with thewebs thereof. The binding bar or clamp O is then brought into positionfrom below, the one flange 0 being brought into close lateral contactwith the blocks D D and the other flange c separated by a narrowinterval from its supporting-blocks D D for the reception of thebinding-keys E E. Said binding-keys E E having been inserted into saidintervals from the acute ends, the binding-bolts having been insertedthrough the circular perforations d d of the flanges c c, the slottedlongitudinal perforation m'of the binding-keys E E and through thecircular opening f f of the side blocks D D D D, and thence through thecontiguous perforations of the wing-rails A A and terminating in thenuts 71 i, the said binding-keys E E are driven home by sledge blowsuntil the entire frpg structure is made a compact and rigid whole. Theangular ends of said keys, being made, preferably, of

wrought-iron, are then bent laterally and th'us'locked against anyreverse movement, and thus prevent the loosening of the parts of thefrog under the vibration of passing trains of cars. In considering,further, the functions of the binding-bolts e c, it is evident that inbeing made to pass through the flanges of the clamping-bars and the websof the wing-rails and held thereto by means of the terminal nuts it saidbolts not only prevent the slipping forward or backward of theclamping-bars, wedges, and side supporting-blocks, but they also performin addition the very important function of preventing the flanges IOO ofthe clamping-bars being bent outward under the excessive blows of thesledge-hammer in driving forward the keys that may subsequently becomenecessary to take up the slack that arises in use from the friction ofthe constituent parts in contact.

In a former invention for an improvement 5 in railway-frogs, for whichLetters Patent were gran ted me and numbered 328,810, while Iconstructedmy keys of general wedge shape and slotted more or less longitudinally,they were necessarily of a heavy construction and large cross-section tofit into the depression on the side of the rail in order to perform boththe function of a side supporting-block and wedge. By'the use of thiskey, however, and the absence of a locking device to retain the same inplace when driven home I found the tendency under vibration was to workloose in the direction opposite to that to which they were originallydriven, and therefore to loosen the entire frog structure; hence I havefound in practice that it is best to use a side block of sufficientcross-section to fill up the said rail-depression and perforate the samecentrally with a circular hole so located as to register with thesimilar openings in the clamp-flanges and the wing-rails, and to makethe keys of an additional piece or plate of metal of a very acute angle,and of wrought- 1ron preferably, so as to bend the acute endtransversely to the longitudinal axial line for the purpose o lockingthe same when driven home.

I prefer to make my keys slotted, not only to admit of a forwardmovement when driven, I but also to prevent the removal of the same fromplace by accident or otherwise without the removal priorily of thebinding-bolts.

I have shown the wedges as used upon but one side of the frog; but itmight be found desirable under certain circumstances to duplicate thearrangement on the opposite side of the frog.

I claim The combination, with the rails and the filling-pieces of afrog, 'of a clamping-plate havin g upwardly-cxten(ling perforatedflanges, the side supporting-blocks interposed between the said flangesand the webs of the rails and provided with circular perforations, thewedges slotted longitudinally and interposed between the said blocks andupturned flanges, the binding-bolts passing through the perforations inthe said flanges and blocks, and the slots in the wedges to co-operatewith the wedges in tightening all the parts of the frog,

'substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JQIIN RICHARDSON.

\Vitnesses:

F. H. IIOFFER, R. ll. GILMORE.

